New here.......another dreaded canning salsa question ; )

18 years ago

Hi!

This is my first time posting in this forum, but i've been here at GW for quite a while.

I canned salsa yesterday for only the 2nd time in my life.

I do have a bit of canning experience from watching my Mother, but until I started reading last evening I had no idea how dangerous home canned foods could be.

I used 1/2 pint jars......sterilized w/ new lids.

7 cups tomatoes, skinned & chopped (I included the seeds)

3/4 of a medium onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

2 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 1/2 TB chopped, fresh cilantro

salt & pepper (1 tsp each)

1 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acid)

I know that may not be exact measurements, but I thought that the ratio of tomatoes and vinegar to the rest of the ingredients would make it perfectly safe.

I wasn't aware of the importance of using a tested recipe.

I boiled the mixture, then simmered for 15 min and then added it to hot jars. Then I put the jars in a pot of boiling water for 15 min. The boiling water reached just to the bottom of the lid. Uh oh, was that wrong? Should they have been totally covered?

And the jars are filled w/ salsa right to the bottom of the lid. A few are actually about 1/4" below where metal ring is.

All the lids sealed. They are sitting on my countertop.

Have I screwed up? Any thoughts on the safety of my salsa would be appreciated. It was put in the jars around 6pm last evening - is there still time to refrigerate if you don't think it's safe?

My guess is that it's safe, but i'm not the expert when it comes to BWB's and the acid ratio's.

TIA for any help or information you can offer.

Have a great day,

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

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Comments (4)

dafygardennut
18 years ago
I'm not sure as to the safety of the salsa, others I'm sure will chime in as to that. I do know that the water has to cover the jars by 1-2 inches when you are processing so they would probably need to be reprocessed just for that. I would refrigerate.

Jen
digdirt2
18 years ago
The recipe is probably ok with the 1 cup of vinegar but your processing isn't, sorry.

You need to either freeze, refrigerate and use shortly, or totally reprocess. If you choose to reprocess, then that means you dump it all back into the pan, reheat, new hot jars and lids, leave 1/2 to 1" headspace (fill to the lowest jar thread is a good general guide) and reprocess as dafy said. Jars should be covered by 1 1/2 to 2" of water and process pints for 15-20 minutes.

Hope this helps.

Dave

PS: But yes, for future reference approved and tested recipes only, ok? Check out the Annie's Salsa discussions here. Everyone loves it.
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mamabirrd
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for taking the time to answer Jen and Dave. I really do appreciate it.

Update: I ended up just refrigerating the salsa and we have eaten 2 pints already. It is delish! It will be gone before the weekend gets here.
ksrogers
18 years ago
Headspace is very important, it should be at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch down from the top sealing glass rim area. If less, you will not get a proper vacuum seal. I have seen some that go to nearly an inch spacing, and is a bit borderline. Because cilantro will lose ALL aroma and flavor very fast, it would be better to add fresh chopped at serving time. When doing water a bath, the jars MUST have at least 2 inches of water ABOVE the metal covers, and be off the bottom of the canner as well. If you like, you can add dried peppers that soak up the liquid, and also lime juice as an additional acidifier.